A bill to dramatically increase the fines against those who flout city building codes won final approval from the Honolulu City Council Wednesday.

Introduced by Council Zoning Chairwoman Kymberly Pine, Bill 53 also makes the fines non-negotiable and may force the property owner to tear down an entire building or at least the portion found to be in violation.

The measure was approved 5-1, with Councilman Brandon Elefante the lone “no” vote. Councilman Joey Manahan was attending a conference on the mainland, and members Ikaika Anderson and Trevor Ozawa were out of the room when the vote occurred.

The measure now goes to Mayor Kirk Caldwell, who has 10 working days to approve it, veto it or let it become law without his signature.

The bill was driven, in part, by continuing concerns about the growth of large-scale, or “monster,” houses that many deem out of character with older Honolulu neighborhoods, and a growing perception that the Department of Planning and Permitting is incapable of cracking down on violators of building and zoning laws.

Currently, a party slapped with a Notice of Order for violating any part of the code pays a flat $2,000, plus $2,000 a day for each day the violation exists. Under Bill 53, those who build without a permit and are ordered to suspend work would pay an initial civil fine that is 10 times the amount of a building permit fee or $10,000, whichever is greater, and then an additional 10 times the amount of a building permit fee or $10,000, whichever is greater, for each day the violation persists.

“This bill provides the tools to help us punish egregious violators of our city’s building codes, include those that we’ve seen building entire buildings with questionable methods and densities, without a building permit,” Pine said, in a release. “High, non-­negotiable fines, and the ability to demolish these structures will make any company think twice before they decide to flout the city’s laws and construct these structures without first obtaining a building permit, she said.

In the spring, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported that a house on Date Street was built even after builders were issued a stop-work order, which they received after getting a Notice of Violation for working without an approved building permit.

As of Tuesday, DPP reported that the building permit for the property was still pending, and that the homeowner and contractor had accrued $169,000 in fines for working without an approved building permit and $19,250 in fines for an illegally constructed wall.